The Shadow of Voltron
by limegreenarcher
Summary: Nico di Angelo was finally happy; he had survived two wars, Tartarus and found a place to belong. But now the fates had taken all that away from him, landing him in the middle of another war; this time galaxies away from Earth. Trapped in the future and surrounded by strangers, Nico struggles to keep his shadows at bay as he tries to gain, and keep, the trust of those around him.
1. Chapter 1: A Very Rough Landing

**Disclaimer: I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender or the Percy Jackson series. All rights go to Rick Riordian and the creators of Voltron. This applies to the whole fanfiction as I am likely to forget it each chapter.**

* * *

 **A/N: This fic takes place a good few months after the end of the Giant War and starts Episode 9 of Season 1 of Voltron, Crystal Venom. Enjoy!**

* * *

 ** Chapter 1: A Very Rough Landing**

* * *

Nico sighed contently as he threw his happy meal box into the nearby rubbish bin, watching the people walking by and looking as though they were all in their own little worlds; suited men and women rushed by with their early morning coffee, on their way to the office for a hard day's work, some talking rapidly into their mobiles or studying documents for the afternoons meetings. Students chatted with their friends as they sluggishly made their way to school, dark bags under their eyes from the late nights scrolling the internet, the upcoming science test seemingly forgotten. Street venders setting up shop for the day whistled merry tunes to their radios which played the latest hits, displaying their various colourful wares in orderly lines or preparing the delicious smelling food they would be selling come lunch time. A few runners in brightly coloured leggings jogged by, keeping pace with the music that played in their ears and checking their heartrate or mileage on their fitness watches every now and again. Bright red buses packed with people zoomed by, only to be stopped by the traffic lights along with the rest of the mornings commuters, those on foot crossing the street in one large pack like migrating wildebeest, more people flooding onto the streets as they hurried up the steps of the nearby underground station.

 _Just another normal, weekday morning in London_ , Nico thought with an air of novelty, his brows raising slightly.

He had shadow travelled to Oxford Street, London, in the early hours of dawn, seeking to sate his hunger with a Happy Meal (he found the ones in London to be particularly good) and now found himself in the midst of the morning rush hour. He didn't mind it quite so much now because no one paid any attention to him, and he found it was actually quite enjoyable to watch the world and people go by him in one busy blur as he stood still on the street corner, the only unmoving thing in that very moment in time; even the pigeons were scuttling about peoples feet, searching for any stray crumbs that may have dropped in the rush.

He took a few more moments to soak in his anonymity in this crowd before sighing and slipping around the street corner into a dark alleyway, preparing to shadow travel back to camp; he wasn't supposed to be using his powers so flippantly yet, according to his 'doctor', but surely a quick jump across the pond would be fine? And for such an important cause too!

 _Though,_ Nico thought with a slight grimace, _I better hurry back before someone notices I'm gone._

It may have still been the early hours of twilight back in New York, but Will Solace could be rather unpredictable and Nico could never be sure as to when the son of Apollo would check up on him (he was oddly-and annoyingly-good at avoiding the harpies).

Gathering the shadows around him Nico pictured the dark obsidian walls of his cabin in his mind, his warm, comfortable bed waiting for his return now that he had a full stomach, and he willed the shadows to take him there. As the darkness engulfed him and took him towards his destination, Nico felt the creeping's of fatigue sink into his bones.

 _I suppose a quick jump across the pond really_ was _too much, I shouldn't be this tired already… Guess Will was right._ He thought, eyelids feeling heavy.

But his eyes shot open again when he felt something strong and enormously powerful tug at his gut, changing the direction in which his shadows were taking him. Panic and confusion swept over Nico's mind as he struggled to right his course, playing some kind of mental tug of war with this _thing_ that relentlessly pulled him away from Camp Half-Blood. It felt as though a string or thread had been tied around his waist and was now pulled taut, the person or being on the other end reeling him in through the endless void of shadows; but to where Nico did not know, and he could not seem to break the invisible thread no matter how hard he tried.

His mind and body were growing more and more exhausted the longer he fought for control over the shadows, the longer he pulled back at the thread, and it almost felt as though he were stuck in some sort of loop, like when he had been at the Lotus Hotel. The same shadows passed by him over and over again.

The being at the other end, however, did _not_ tire.

Suddenly, Nico was thrown from the shadows grasp. He found himself hovering just above the ground, but gravity soon caught up with him and he fell down with a heavy _thud_! The ground was cold and smooth, as though he had fallen onto a huge sheet of metal, and large metallic crates surrounded him; he'd been spat out from one of their shadows, it seemed. Nico groaned as his bones ached from the impact, but as he tried to get up he found he could not move a single muscle; the journey had taken every ounce of strength from him, unconsciousness threatening to take hold at any moment.

Nico struggled to keep his eyelids from drooping as he peered through a small gap between the crates, his vision hazy. There was a large, open doorway not too far off from the crates he had landed behind, but the blue lights in the corridor beyond were blinking on and off, flickering as though they couldn't make up their mind as to whether they would stay on or not.

It was only when Nico heard the faint panicked screams of someone from further down the corridor that he realised his ears had been ringing slightly, and he watched as two figures raced past the doorway; they appeared to be in a fight, the one in front defending himself from the others heavy blows as he ran, clearly outmatched by his pursuer.

That was all Nico managed to see before his eyes closed, the exhaustion overwhelming him and sending him into a deep slumber…

* * *

"Nico…"A voice called. It sounded a million miles away."Nico… you _must_ wake up…"

Reluctantly, Nico opened his eyes and found himself standing in a dark, hazy room, the ceiling so high and the room so wide that much of it was shrouded in shadow; it appeared to be infinite. A pale figure robed in black stood before an obsidian throne on a raised dais, looking down at Nico with a stoic expression on his face; even though he was quite a distance away and Nico's vision wasn't very clear, his mind a jumbled mess, the demigod could immediately tell that the figure was his father, Hades.

Nico found himself unable to speak; not because he didn't want to or couldn't find the words, but because his body simply wouldn't allow him too. His mouth felt like it had been stuck together with super glue, and it felt like a frog really was caught in his throat. He felt… strange. His body felt more exhausted than it ever had before in a dream; the dream itself was hazy, and in the back of his mind Nico thought that this was very strange indeed and that he should probably be slightly alarmed by this.

"Focus, Nico." Hades ordered as Nico blinked slowly, struggling to do just that, "Your… _aid_ is needed. You _must_ wake up. If you do not do so now, you may never wake again."

It was even stranger still, but Nico could have sworn he'd seen a glint of anger in his father's cold black eyes; then again, he wasn't seeing things all that clearly right now.

"The Fates have landed you in this grief, but you _must_ wake up. When you do, this exhaustion will fade. Do not let it consume you here, for I do not wish for judgement to be dealt upon your soul just yet."

The fog in Nico's mind cleared slightly as his memory returned to him; he had been transported to a location not of his choosing, quickly passing out upon arrival and it was unknown to him as to whether it was safe or not. He could be getting surrounded by hungry monsters at this very moment, his body asleep and vulnerable whilst he floated here in a dream, close to death. His eyes focused upon his father and his ghostly features, the haze clearing.

"Wake up, Nico." Hades began to fade from view as the dream slowly disappeared piece by piece, "And… good luck, my son…" His voice was now but a whisper on the breeze, and despite hearing the reluctance evident in his tone Nico's eyes went wide at the simple statement.

He didn't have much time to think on it however as he was suddenly pulled from the dream, his eyes snapping open as he took a deep intake of breath, finding himself on a cold metal floor once again.

He spun onto his back as fast as his body would let him (the exhaustion had indeed lessened, but Nico still felt a little shaky and weak) preparing to draw his sword at his side when he saw that he was alone. No monsters. No Gods. Nothing.

Taking a few steadying breaths Nico allowed himself to relax somewhat, propping himself up against one of crates; it seemed he had not been discovered yet and there was no immediate danger that he could see. He took stock of his belongings, making sure they were all present; his stygian iron sword was at his side, his skull ring still on his finger, the few drachmas he had still sat in his trouser pocket and the small cubes of ambrosia were still in the inside pocket of his jacket.

He took out one of those cubes now and popped it into his mouth, savouring its sweet taste as he felt rejuvenating energy flow into his bones; the jump through the shadows had almost sucked out every ounce of life energy in him, even with the 'help' the Fates had given him to bring him here. Wherever _here_ was.

 _I must have travelled a long way to get into that kind of condition…_ Nico thought. _And how long have I been asleep for? Days? Weeks? Months? With that level of exhaustion it could have been_ years _…_

But his father had appeared in his dreams to wake him, and no matter how cold Hades could be, Nico didn't think the God would wait _years_ before telling him to wake up before he died… Hopefully. But there was a much more important question at hand, like why had the Fates thrown him here against his will and with no warning whatsoever? Surely he deserved some kind of explanation before being pulled to his death in a place that was quite possibly and probably hostile.

 _Right…_ Nico thought, standing slowly now that his energy had been restored, _Time to find a way out of this place._

Shadow travelling to safety was out of the question. For one, he had no idea _where_ he was, how _big_ this place was, or where the nearest, _safest_ destination may be; he could try shadow travelling to New York only to find that he's on the other side of the world entirely. And _that_ was the other problem. Nico couldn't risk another big jump after the one that had brought him here, as even with the ambrosia he was still in his previous weakened state, as far as his powers were concerned. He could almost _hear_ Will in his ear, yammering on about overexertion and the dangers of using his powers too much too quickly.

 _Well… it's not as if I had any say in the matter this time…_ Nico thought with a grumble, carefully and quietly moving from behind the crates and towards the doorway which was now closed.

It was here Nico encountered his first problem; how to open a door.

There was no handle, not even a gap down the centre of the metal to suggest there were two doors instead of one, which was likely for a doorway this large. It was an odd shape and it didn't even look possible for the door to swing either in _or_ out. However, as Nico stood before the door and was about to try pushing it open, it slid up into the doorway with a small _hiss_ of air.

Apparently, the doors were automatic.

Nico cautiously made his way into the corridor, a hand resting on the pommel of his sword, his eyes darting this way and that. The lights were no longer flickering, and the corridor was silent. There was no sign of anyone.

As Nico continued to walk through the endless, blue lit corridors he started to realise just how large this place was; it was almost like the labyrinth with all its intersecting corridors and rooms, though admittedly much more futuristic, and Nico was completely lost. He was starting to get bored and began tapping his leg as he walked, dropping his hand from his sword; he almost _wanted_ a monster to suddenly appear around one of those corners and attack him, just to give him _something_ to do other than plod down these quiet, never ending corridors.

As though the Fates had been listening (they probably were), someone appeared around the corner at that very moment. It was a small girl with short brown hair and round glasses, wearing a green jumper with loose, grey shorts. They appeared to be studying some kind of tablet with huge blocks of blue text on it, glasses glinting in the light as they made their way down the corridor towards Nico.

It was the first person he had seen here, and his hand drifted back to his sword as he continued to walk slowly down the corridor, watching the girl to see what she would do and trying to figure out whether or not she was a monster in disguise.

But he needn't have worried as all the girl did was say "Hey Keith." with a small wave of her hand as she walked by, completely ignoring Nico and focusing only on her tablet.

Nico stopped walking at this and watched as the girl turned a corner, disappearing from his view. His brows were furrowed in confusion but he was glad the girl hadn't tried to attack him or ask him who he was… though apparently they'd mistaken him for someone else, so he wasn't out of the woods yet.

 _I should find an exit,_ Nico thought as he continued down the corridor, _I may not be so lucky next time… especially if I run into this 'Keith' guy myself._

Just as he was finishing that thought however, he heard another voice call out to him as he passed an open doorway:

"Hey, Keith! Want to try some of my freshly baked goo? I think I've really mastered the taste this time, you can hardly tell its goo at all!"

Nico turned in slight alarm to see a boy in his late teens looking at him from inside the room and offering a plate of weird looking green gloop to him. The boy was much bigger than Nico and wore an orange headband which held back his black hair, a messy apron covering his clothes; he appeared to be standing in the middle of a kitchen, and it looked as though he had been cooking.

"Er… no thanks." Nico said, quickly shaking his head before walking off, hoping the boy wouldn't follow him.

He didn't, but Nico did hear a disappointed and slightly irritated grumble from the kitchen. Nico was just thankful the boy hadn't realised he wasn't 'Keith'; that was twice so far, and Nico was definitely pushing his luck now.

Nico proved to be jinxing himself today as yet again someone turned the corner and started making their way towards him. This time it was another boy in his late teens, though this one was tall and slightly lanky with short brown hair, wearing an army green jacket and hoodie.

"Heya Keith." He said with a mischievous grin, hands in his pockets, "You're looking younger today… Shorter too…" His eyes narrowed slightly in confusion and he started to slow down as he got closer to Nico, "And what happened to your mullet?"

"I had a change of mind." Nico said, trying to sound nonchalant as he ducked his head and started walking rather quickly down the corridor, passing the boy before he could question Nico further.

"I mean, congrats on catching up to this century!" The boy called after him in a teasing manner, but Nico just ignored him as he turned the corner and kept walking, trying to get away from the perceptive boy.

Lance scratched his head in confusion as Keith hurriedly turned the corner. He was _definitely_ shorter… But Lance simply shrugged and carried on in the direction he had originally been heading; that is, till he saw a certain mullet-head walking across an intersection ahead of him.

Stopping dead in his tracks Lance spun to look behind him, then ahead of him again, then back again, eyes wide and mouth agape. How was it possible for Keith to walk off in one direction and then appear in the complete opposite one the very next tick?! After a few more seconds of confusion Lance sighed and shook his head, deciding to brush it off for now; the castle could still be feeling the after effects of the Galra crystal, after all.

Nico meanwhile was no less confused; not only about the fact that he seemed to resemble some guy named 'Keith', but also by the fact that each of the people he'd met had spoken English and had had an American accent… though they were all slightly different and so it was hard for him to tell where exactly in America he might be. If he _was_ in fact in the USA… it was too difficult to tell from an accent alone, and he'd have to find definite proof of where he was when he got out of here.

But he was also beginning to expect that finding the exit to this place wouldn't be as easy as it sounded; he had noticed cameras in nearly every corridor, and so the security of this place was clearly high. The exit wouldn't be easy to find, nor to leave out of, if Nico's suspicions were correct.

Yet soon enough, another man crossed Nico's path; he was much older looking than the others and had a huge ginger moustache on his face, and he wore a strange looking uniform, like something out of star trek or some other sci-fi film. As the man crossed the corridor in front of Nico he turned his head, and upon seeing the boy halted suddenly. He started to approach Nico with a huge grin on his face as he said:

"Ah Keith, I was just looking for you!"

"Oh." Nico said, ducking his head once again, mind going a mile a minute as he blurted out, "Er-Well I'm kinda busy so it'll have to wait till later… Sorry!"

Nico dodged around the man who was still walking towards him, picking up his pace as he turned the corner. Unfortunately, Nico heard the strange man calling out to him once again, and he soon heard the heavy thump of footsteps approaching from behind; the man seemed to be intent on following Nico, and so he started sprinting as fast as he could down the twisting corridors.

Nico turned corners blindly, trying to shake the persistent man that continued to call out to him; he sounded concerned, but Nico couldn't let him catch him or he would be discovered for sure.

Eventually, the man's footsteps began to fade from Nico's hearing, and as he looked behind him to check on his pursuer, Nico heard the unfamiliar _hiss_ of a door opening. Panicked, he spun his head back around to find himself stumbling into a very large room.

Nico's eyes widened impossibly large and his mouth hung agape at the sight before him as he stood there completely dumbfounded. The walls seemed to be almost entirely made out of glass, though the outside world was completely dark at present (no luck there in finding out where he was), and Nico truly believed he had managed to travel into some kind of sci-fi filmset. There was a small gathering of people around an overly large chair to the left of him, and thankfully they were facing away from Nico, and so hadn't seen him yet. Three of the people were the ones he had pumped into earlier, the girl sitting in the chair with the others around her. The other two were a young woman with long white hair, wearing a rather fancy looking long dress, and a young man wearing all black with short hair that had a strange tuft of white at the front.

As Nico was taking this all in, the group continued with their conversation:

"I think we should look into Sendak's memories and see what we can find. There should be enough information in there to give us the upper hand in defeating Zarkon." The white-haired woman said.

"I agree with the Princess." The man all in black said, nodding slightly. He then addressed the girl in the chair: "Pidge, do you think you can get on that?"

"Sure, I can get on that right away." 'Pidge' replied. "Though, shouldn't someone tell Keith and Coran what we're doing? They should be here too."

"I'll call them on the intercom now." The woman said, turning slightly to move to another strange surface in the middle of the room.

As she did so however, she spotted Nico, standing in front of the doorway with slightly tense posture and a more reasonable expression on his face; he no longer looked as surprised as he once had upon entering the room, and instead his brows were now furrowed slightly.

"Oh, there you are Keith." The woman said with a smile, the others all turning now to also see Nico standing in front of the closed door. "I was just about to call you on the intercom because we're going to access Sendak's memories now. Have you seen Coran about?"

Before Nico could think of a suitable answer that would allow him to escape, the man with the moustache ran into the room right on cue. The door hissed open and closed, and the man put his hands on his knees, seemingly out of breath as he stood next to Nico saying:

"Keith! There you are! You were running like a Quizlewatt was on your tail!"

Nico's teeth gritted and his fists clenched at his side. He'd had just about enough of these strange people calling him Keith. Not only that, but his mind was entering a slight panic as to how he was not only going to get out of this whole complex, but this very room; there was just too many people here now, he was far too outnumbered for his liking.

As Nico stepped back slightly from a still panting Coran, Shiro's brows furrowed slightly in confusion and some suspicion. The younger boy before him had his eyebrows furrowed in what seemed to be unwarranted anger, and there was something rather off about Keith today…

"Keith…" Shiro said, moving slowly towards the other black-haired boy, "Are you feeling oka-"

" _I'm not Keith!_ " Nico exploded; this was the final straw.

Whilst Nico was indeed panicked, his frustration and annoyance over everything overwhelmed it entirely. Not only were these people preventing him from leaving, but they had all been treating him as though he were their friend; he knew none of them and yet they were being so friendly! Who even _was_ Keith?! His annoyance was only increased by the fact that none of them had realised that he _wasn't_ Keith; he was completely confused by how they could possibly keep mistaking him for their friend. Surely, they would know?

What Nico didn't know, was in fact they _had_ been about to realise he wasn't Keith. Shiro had realised it just as Nico exploded, and the others were quick to follow; over time they had seen how different the two were, as their accents were not the same and this 'Keith' was acting particularly strange and different from usual.

Even so, their similar appearances still confused them somewhat.

"I don't know who he is or who any of you are! Now tell me where I am!" Nico continued, managing to keep the panic from spreading into his angered tone as the shadows in the room ever so slightly warped towards him.

A tense silence spread across main deck, and it was only broken by the quiet hissing of the door opening and closing once again.

All eyes turned to the boy who had just walked into the room, and all eyes widened. The boy who now stood casually before them was indeed Keith, but the boy who stood tensely to the side of him did indeed have a strange resemblance to the red paladin. Nico's eyes widened slightly and his brows furrowed further as he realised that he did hold some resemblance to this boy; there was no doubt in his mind that the teen that had just walked in was Keith.

The paladin's brows furrowed slightly in confusion when he saw everyone staring at him, but his expression soon became guarded as he spotted Nico:

"Who's this?" Keith said, addressing his teammates whilst staring at the stranger beside him.

Nico's body tensed further as he watched the other boy's muscles do the same; this 'Keith' was preparing for a fight, and so he continued to watch the boy's body language as the two stared intently at each other, trying to figure the other one out through posture alone.

Everyone else just continued to watch, confused out of their minds; both at how they had all mistaken this boy for Keith, and at how similar the two looked on the surface, especially now they were standing next to each other.

Coran cleared his throat, now standing up straight as he said, "It appears we have a stowaway."

"Who are you?" Keith demanded, eyes narrowing in suspicion, "How did you get on this ship? Why are you here? Is it for the Lions?"

Nico's face became confused for a moment as he replied to the last question, "Lions? I don't know what you're talking about or where I even am! Who are you?"

"You're in no position to ask that question," Keith replied, "You're the enemy here."

"As far as I'm concerned, _you're_ the enemies. Now answer my questions!"

Both boys were getting more and more frustrated, and Keith was about to reach his own breaking point when Shiro interrupted:

"Keith, calm down. Let's try to solve this peacefully." Nico noticed he had the air of a leader about him, and his tone was both stern and placating. He spoke kindly to his friend, but he looked at Nico with a stern face and with suspicion and wariness in his eyes.

Nico watched as Keith considered the older man's words, and he saw his muscles relax ever so slightly, his face becoming less tense as he nodded in affirmation, never taking his eyes off Nico.

"How did you get on this ship?" Shiro asked, taking the lead of the conversation as he looked at Nico; he seemed to be far more level-headed to the demigod, but that didn't mean Nico could let his guard down anytime soon.

"…Through the door?" Nico said, one eyebrow raising as he decided to try his luck with an obvious answer.

Unfortunately, it did not pay off.

"Don't play games." Shiro said, his eyes narrowing further. "Tell us the truth. How did you get on this ship?"

"…I can't tell you that." Nico said. He was confused enough by what kind of ship could possibly look like this, and by the fact it didn't _feel_ like he was on a ship. And he wasn't exactly just going to tell a bunch of mortals he'd magically teleported here via shadows.

But for Keith, this boy's insolence and refusal to answer their questions had pushed him over the edge of his tolerance; he wouldn't allow this intruder to mess with them any longer, and his muscles tensed once again.

" _Rgh_ , that's _it_!" With a small cry of anger Keith lunged towards Nico, hoping to get him into a headlock as he reached for his dagger behind him. However, Nico ducked and dodged out of reach of the paladin, his demigod instincts kicking in and he backed away with light footsteps, tensing his muscles as he prepared for a fight.

Keith was quick to pursue him, swinging at Nico with his dagger in hand as Nico continued to dodge and weave around him; there was a strange energy around the dagger that was being swung at him, and it was unlike any metal he'd felt before. Which meant these people (or at least this boy) were not ordinary mortals. Nico had been reluctant to use his sword at first because it could affect both mortals and immortals, but he soon realised that this boy was far more adept with a dagger than Nico assumed he would be.

As Nico dodged backwards once again he reached for the sword at his side, pulling it free of its scabbard and bringing it up just in time to stop the blow that had been heading for his throat. The two blades clashed together with a metallic _Clang!_ pushing against one another as they became locked in combat.

The two teens stared at each other intensely, brows furrowed and teeth gritted as Nico said with a slight smirk, "It's nice to see a familiar weapon, but you're outmatched!" He suddenly pushed against the dagger with his sword, knocking Keith away from him. However, Nico gave him no time to recover as he swung at Keith again, forcing the boy to go on the defensive this time instead. Nico repeated his earlier questions, shouting them at the boy as they continued to fight; it only resulted in Keith demanding the same questions of Nico, and neither of them would answer the others questions.

Seeing this new threat and that Keith's small dagger would struggle against a sword, no matter how good he may be, Shiro barked out orders to the other paladins:

"Go get your Bayards, I'll help Keith until you get back!"

"Right!" The three remaining paladins called out, already racing to go fetch their weapons.

Shiro meanwhile charged up his arm, the purple energy flowing through it as he raced to Keith's aid. They had not helped Keith in his fight before as it was so intense that they couldn't intervene easily without hurting him, even though they had wanted too; but now, with Keith on the defensive, they had to deal with this threat as a team.

Coran stood protectively in front of Allura, who had tensed up and was trying to think of a way to end this fight quickly, and they watched as Shiro entered the battle, swinging at Nico with a glowing hand.

To say Nico was surprised by this development would be an understatement; he watched with wide eyes as a purple, glowing robotic fist narrowly missed his face, forcing him to back away from his opponent. He could feel the dark energy coming off it in waves, and whilst it made the hairs on the back of Nico's neck stand up, it held an odd sense of familiarity to it.

Any further thoughts on the intense purple energy were quickly swept from his mind though as he was once again forced to defend himself, now from two opponents instead of one. Nico ducked, dodged and parried, still unrelenting in his questioning; he _had_ to get answers, it was now or never.

Suddenly Nico sensed a threat from behind him, and without thinking he ducked, throwing himself to the floor just as a blast of blue energy shot over his head. He leapt into a crouch, twisting to see that the other three had returned and now had their own weapons pointed at him; Nico wasn't sure whether to be pleased or not that they all seemed to have long distance weapons rather than close quarters ones. Either way, he was at an extreme disadvantage and hugely outnumbered by skilled fighters.

Nico fought desperately as they attacked him from all sides, twisting this way and that, his heart thumping in his chest; this was a well-worn team that had fought many battles together, and Nico knew he couldn't last much longer fighting on all sides as he was. He just didn't have the time to catch his breath, or even to plan a possible escape. Things looked dire.

Nico dived behind a console, pressing his palm against the cool surface beneath him and searching desperately for something dead as he breathed heavily. Even if he was on a ship, maybe there were some skeletons deep down beneath them from an old shipwreck, right? Nico desperately hoped so as he searched for anything beneath the earth's surface that he could use to help him fight and survive this in one piece.

But there was nothing.

Nico's eyes widened in panic as he was forced to dive into a forward roll, narrowly avoiding another energy blast. He was back out in the open, and had had no time to catch his breath. In a panicked and confused state, he stood, saying:

"There's no earth here! Why?!"

As Nico continued to frantically parry the onslaught of blows, Coran answered him with a rather puzzled look on his face:

"Well, that's because you're in space my boy."

" _What?!"_ Nico cried, freezing in place as his eyes seemed to widen impossibly so.

This brief lapse in movement allowed Pidge to fling her grappling hook towards him, winding the green cable tightly around his legs, quickly tugging on it and bringing the demigod down to the floor with a heavy and painful _thud!_

Nico snapped his head around to see his legs tightly bound together, and he frantically reached down, tugging at his confines uselessly; as the shadows of his attackers fell over him, he knew he wouldn't be able to escape these constraints. He stopped pulling at them, and instead stared up at the people who now surrounded him on all sides, weapons still in hand. Nico glared at them as Shiro spoke:

"You will answer our questions, and if you continue to refuse answering them, we will have no choice but to keep you here."

Nico didn't like the sound of that. He wanted to get out of this place and away from these strange people as quickly as possible, Fates be damned! He didn't know what they wanted him here for but he didn't care to find out, not when his first interaction with people here went as well as this.

 _Then again…_ Nico thought _, When_ doesn't _a first introduction end with threats and violence where demigods are concerned?_

Even so, Nico was desperate to leave. Will would probably be out of his mind right now if he knew Nico were missing. The others too would probably be mad at him for using his powers. And sure, he could escape from this place later when they locked him up somewhere and then just silently disappear when he had more energy to do so, but he didn't know how long that would be and Nico was far too impatient to just sit there whilst they bombarded him with questions he wouldn't answer.

The group had helpfully stood all around him though and cast their shadows onto him, so at least he didn't have to expend his energy drawing any shadows around him…

Decision made and deciding he had just enough energy for a short jump, Nico concentrated on a location, drawing the darkness around him and picturing the same cargo bay in which he had landed.

Before the paladins knew what was happening, Nico had vanished. They stood there, completely dumbfounded, staring at the space in front of them which was now empty but for their shadows, the vibrant green cable of Pidges bayard lying uselessly on the floor. The intruder had disappeared without warning, without a trace, without a single sound or mark left behind.

They all spun towards Coran and Allura, but they found they had just as perplexed and shocked expressions as they had.

"Is-is there an alien species that can just disappear like that?" Keith managed to stutter out.

"Hmmm… Well, there is a race that can essentially disappear by turning into a microscopic version of themselves… but no. I've never heard of a race that can simply disappear like that." Coran explained, shrugging as he finished his sentence.

"If he's still on this ship, he can't have gone far." Shiro said, "We'll have to figure out a way of restraining him later. For now, let's find him again."

With nods and words of affirmation the occupants of the Castle of Lions set out to find and once again capture their intruder.

Nico meanwhile, was stumbling about the blue lit corridors, and still trying to find an exit. When he had arrived in the cargo room he'd turned right instead of left, hoping that _this_ would be the direction in which he would find the exit.

The short trip had taken more out of him than he had anticipated, and in the midst of the battle and in his desperation, he had forgotten about the cameras he had seen in the corridors. It wouldn't be long before they found him, and so he had to find a way out.

But Nico's muscles ached from the hard battle, and he'd received his fair share of grazes and bruises from it; there had been a lot of close calls. His breathing was heavy and his sword felt like an anchor weighing him down as he dragged himself through the endless corridors. Soon enough, he came across another large door, and decided he could hide and take a brief rest inside whatever room lay on the other side; there had been no alarms, or voices on an intercom calling everyone to arms against an intruder, and so Nico assumed that those he had seen were the only occupants of this ship. It would be safe to go inside the room.

As the door slid closed with another _hiss_ of air, Nico slumped down against the wall. There lay another problem he had forgotten about when he lay tied up on the floor. Not only was he on a ship, but apparently it was a _spaceship_. If it were true, even if Nico found the exit, he wouldn't be able to leave out of it. But… it couldn't possibly be true. He couldn't believe for even a second that it was true! There could be no reason in Olympus why the Fates would decide he needed to help people in _space_ , of all places! There couldn't possibly be a threat he had to face here, in the infinite void, right?

Nico shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut as he gripped the hilt of his sword. It wasn't worth thinking about, but if he wanted to escape, he had too…

His eyes snapped open suddenly as he once again heard the hiss of steam and the sound of clunking metal. He looked up to see two large robots walking towards him, a single, blue glowing eye in the centre of their heads, weapons in hand. They vaguely reminded Nico of the automatons the children of Hephaestus's made, however these ones were not made of celestial bronze and they did not look friendly.

Standing as quickly as he could Nico rushed to the door beside him, but found that it refused to open. He banged his fist against the door, urging it to open with all his might; he was too tired to fight, but as he glanced behind him he found that the bots were still advancing. He banged on the door desperately, the ringing of the cold metal echoing throughout the large room as he grit his teeth in frustration and panic.

 _Why… Why was this happening to him? Why had the Fates chosen him for this task? Why in Hades name did he have to be here, alone, when he was still recovering from the effects of the War…?_

Squeezing his eyes shut once again, his shoulders hunched around his bowed head, Nico took a deep breath. When he released it, some of the tension left his shoulders.

Those questions didn't matter right now. What mattered was making it out of here alive. He couldn't shadow travel away, and he was trapped in this room. That meant he'd have to fight the bots. He was certain that those people wouldn't let them kill him; they had too many questions they wanted answering. But that didn't mean Nico was about to just give up and surrender. He'd give this fight all he had. And when he undoubtedly got captured again, perhaps he'd get the answers to his own questions, and find a way out of here.

When he opened his eyes again, they were set with determination. He gathered all the strength he had left, gripping his sword firmly in his hand. He turned to face the bots.

* * *

It hadn't taken them long to locate the intruder. When they saw that he was in the training room, all seven of them rushed down there. It had been Coran's idea to use the training bots.

The occupants of the Castleship stood behind the glass of the observation deck of the training room, watching as the black-haired intruder turned to face the training bots.

"Shouldn't we go down there ourselves? It doesn't seem fair on the guy, or right…" Hunk said, his brows furrowed slightly in concern and confusion.

"Yeah," Lance agreed, sounding a little more upbeat than his friend, "We're missing some quality action here!"

Shiro's brows were furrowed as well, "Hunks right. We shouldn't let _training_ bots do our fighting for us."

"Yes… But I want to test his skills against the bots!" Coran said, standing by the control panel and twiddling the end of his moustache slightly, "This is a rare opportunity to see the enemy in action from a distance!"

"We don't know if he _is_ our enemy, Coran." Allura said, her arms crossed as she watched the boy fighting the bots below, "He seems lost… However, I do think it's best to be on the side of caution."

"I think Allura's right," Pidge said, a hand on her hip as she looked off to the side, "Keith _did_ attack him first so…"

"Hey!" Keith said, turning to Pidge and trying to defend himself, "He was a threat I decided to deal with."

"By getting your butt kicked…" Lance murmured with a smirk.

"I don't see you doing any better…" Keith grumbled as he crossed his arms, looking at Lance with slightly narrowed and disparaging eyes.

However, Lance's attention was back on the fight below. The boy seemed to be struggling; his movements were slower and his swings were sluggish, almost desperate in their erraticness.

"Wonder why he isn't disappearing like before…" Lance wondered out loud, a brow raising in curiosity.

"Maybe it has a cooldown?" Hunk said, shrugging slightly.

"He looks tired…" Pidge said, hand on her chin. She then looked at Hunk saying "Maybe using it uses a lot of energy?"

"Maybe." Shiro said. "I think we should stop the training bots before he gets hurt. He does seem confused enough as it is."

"We can't go easy on him," Keith reasoned, "he could give us the slip again. And we don't know what else he can do. I have a lot of questions for him…" Keith's eyes narrowed as he looked at the boy fighting below, however he was soon distracted by Lance again.

"Yeah… like why on Earth would he copy _your_ style?" Lance said with a side-glance and a grin. Keith let out an annoyed and exasperated groan as Lance continued to smirk at him, however they forgot about their small squabble when Pidge said with urgency:

"Guys, look."

The two boys looked, and saw Nico getting thrown across the room by one of the training bots, his black sword flying out of his hand and clattering loudly across the floor. The boy himself landed heavily and painfully on the hard floor, rolling a couple of times before he came to a stop on his stomach. The bots continued to advance towards him, and the paladins watched as he struggled to get up; he was too exhausted, and every time he tried to lift himself with shaking arms, he would fall flat on his face again with a resounding _thud_.

Nico clenched his fists. He could sense the groups life forces above him, and he knew they had cowardly been watching from up there, letting these robots do the fighting for them. With the last of his energy he lifted his head, just enough so that he could look in the direction of their life forces. He glared at them. He glared at them as hard as he could, and the paladins felt the glare piercing their souls.

Nico's head then slumped to the ground, and his body went limp. He had once again passed out in enemy territory, and was completely vulnerable.

The group of seven were shocked that he had known they were up there, and it was only when he passed out that they could recover from the final glare he sent them. Seeing that the bots were still advancing on his unconscious body, Coran reached for the control panel, and with a more muted and stunned voice said:

"End training sequence."

* * *

 **A/N: Hi everyone! Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my third ever fic (don't pay attention to that I just like to keep count) and my first without an OC! Please please please tell me if any of the characters are OOC and I will try to fix that (they may be a little in this chapter, idk?) but do remember that this takes place towards the end of Season 1, and in my opinion the characters of Voltron have developed a lot since then.  
Also, I havnt seen Season 3 yet (I'll probably watched it in the next week or so) so no spoilers please. **

**I have been planning, and started to write this at the beginning of the year. However, college amongst other things got in the way (which will also be why an update will probably take forever). If anyone would like to know, this is the longest chapter I have ever written for any fic ever. Yay! Others probably wont quite be this long. This was inspired by some tumblr posts I saw. Before I had watched Voltron I saw a fanart of Keith, and mistook it for Nico. Others have also made this connection, and thus this fic was born (its developed a lot since then, this was simply the starting point).**

 **Anyways, I'm blabbering on and so I hope you enjoyed this chapter and like the idea of my fic! Thank you for reading! Please tell me what you liked, what you didnt, what you think I can improve upon, and your thoughts! It would be greatly appreciated! So whether you liked what you read or not...**

 _ **PLEASE REVIEW!**_

 **Hope to see you in the next chapter,**

 **-Limegreenarcher**


	2. Chapter 2: A Long Way From Home

**Chapter 2: A Long Way From Home**

* * *

Nico blinked slowly as he began to regain consciousness. His muscles ached as though Mrs O'Leary had sat on him. His throat was dry. He felt his stomach silently rumble to itself. As he cleared his blurry vision, Nico went to rub his lightly throbbing forehead with his hand; he could feel a headache threatening to take hold.

As he tried to do so, however, he found that his hand was tied down to something. He looked down at his hand for a moment in confusion, staring at the strange cord that had been tied around his wrist which was attaching him to what seemed to be the armrest of a high-backed chair. Nico's head cleared, and his look of confusion changed to one of resignation; he'd passed out in enemy territory _again_ , but this time he had been captured. He grimaced as he lightly tugged on his bonds, finding his feet were also tightly bound together, and he was suddenly spun around, someone's face appearing inches in front of his own.

Nico reared his head back as far as he could, but unfortunately, the chair's headrest was in the way and he only managed to get far back enough from his assailant to stop his eyes from crossing; his eyes widened and he gritted his teeth at this sudden intrusion. The boy in front of him spoke:

"So, Keith-but-not-Keith, who _are you_?" Lance interrogated, his hands on his hips as he bent at the waist to get into the other boy's face.

Once Nico got over the fact that this boy was invading his personal space to the extreme, he thought about what he should do to answer him. From the corner of his eye, he saw the rest of the inhabitants of this place gathered behind the boy, arms crossed.

 _The only way I'm going to get any answers from them is if I cooperate… Once I have what I need I'll escape again. They won't get the better of me this time, not if I buy enough time to recover from our previous fight._

His eyes set in grim determination, Nico stared the boy in the eyes as he answered him: "Nico."

Lance blinked in surprise, and raised a brow as he decided to try and questioned him further, "And why are you here, _Nico_?"

 _I wish I knew that myself,_ He thought. "I don't know." He replied monotonously.

Lances eyes narrowed and he frowned, "Is it for the Lions?"

Silence.

"For Voltron?"

Nothing.

Lance gritted his teeth as he gestured with his hands and said, "Do. You. Work. For. The. Galra?"

"… The who?" Nico asked as he just blinked at Lance repeatedly.

Lance threw his head back and groaned, his arms going limp at his sides as he turned and returned to the others, giving up on his interrogation which was clearly going nowhere fast.

"Stop playing innocent and naïve." Keith said, his arms crossed and his tone hostile. "It _won't_ work."

Nico looked at him and his eyes narrowed. Teeth gritted he said, "But I'm telling you, I really _don't_ know what you're going on about _or_ why I'm here!"

"Then tell us _how_ you got here." Shiro countered.

"I _don't know_." Nico said vehemently. It wasn't exactly the truth; he knew he'd gotten here via shadow travel, but he wasn't just going to go right ahead and explain that one to them without knowing more about them first. And it wasn't exactly a lie either; he hadn't come to wherever this was on purpose, and he knew the Fates had somehow had a hand in getting him here, and he still didn't know why they had brought him here. The fact he had crash-landed in their base had been completely out of his hands.

"You _'don't know'_?" Pidge said incredulously.

"No."

They all groaned in annoyance, frowns littering their faces at this confusing and irritating conversation. How could he not know who the Galra are if he was in this galaxy? Or never heard of Voltron? Had he been living under a rock for centuries?

"Just tell me where I am." Nico continued. He refused to believe they were actually in space; it had just been a crazy tactic to shock him and gain the upper hand in battle, that was all. "Then I'll be gone for good."

They all looked a little confused at that statement, so Allura stepped forward, taking the lead:

"You could have easily hurt one of my Paladins. You're clearly a trained warrior. Yet you deny to know of even the existence of the Galra and their Empire, and you say you don't even know where you are or how you got here. Why should we answer _your_ questions if you are unwilling to answer ours?"

"Because if you do you can forget I was ever here and those questions wont matter anymore." Nico said.

"Is that a threat?" Keith sneered, his muscles tensing.

"No," Nico replied, "It just means I'll be able to leave wherever this _is_. I never meant to come here and I didn't even know it existed and I still don't know _what_ it is." He ranted, getting tired of all these questions and suspicions.

"So…" Allura said a little warily, "You really _are_ lost?" Deciding to believe his desperate ranting for now, Allura approached the boy, crouching down so that she was level with him. _There are very few places left in the universe who do not know of the Galra Empire… perhaps…_ She thought before continuing inquisitively. "Tell me, are you human?"

Nico studied the woman's face. He recalled the others calling her a 'princess' before. He looked at her elfish ears and the strange triangular markings beneath her eyes. The man with the moustache that had chased him also had these features; _They don't look like any monsters I've seen or heard of…_ He thought, _Not Greek_ nor _Roman. Besides, if they were monsters they would've killed me by now, and they'd be able to tell I'm a demi-god._

He looked at her a little warily. After his disappearing act the other day, he wouldn't be able to lie about having very _non-_ human powers, so eventually, he answered her: "Half. But you and moustache man clearly aren't."

Allura stood as a sad look fell across her face, "You would be correct. Coran and I are the last of our kind… we are Alteans." She quickly moved on however, forcing a smile onto her face as she said, "I am Princess Allura and… _moustache man_ over there is Coran." She couldn't help but giggle slightly at the nickname.

"I'm very proud of my moustache! I'll have you know the ability to groom a fine moustache has been passed down my family line for generations-!" Coran said, twiddling his moustache.

 _Alteans?_ Nico thought, _I've never heard of them before, not even legends… could they be something outside of the Greek and Roman Pantheons? I wish Annabeth were here..._

"May I inquire as to what your other half is, Nico?" Allura asked. He only stared at her in silence. "I suppose that could be a sensitive issue… Though I assume you are from Earth then?"

Nico's forehead wrinkled in confusion, "Yeah… But where are _we_ then?"

"Right now, you are aboard the Castle of Lions in System G5H. Very far from your planet Earth in System X9Y." Coran said.

Nico's eyes widened, the ends of his brows dropped, and his mouth slightly agape. He whispered, _"What?"_

 _There was no way…_ He thought, _They have no reason to lie to me now, but… its just not possible…_ Nico didn't understand the way Coran had described their position and the position of Earth, but why would he make something as ridiculous as that up when Nico was tied to this chair?!

Coran's forehead wrinkled in sympathy and pity, "You are a long way from home, my dear boy."

Nico's head slumped forward as he stared at the floor in front of him, his mind going a mile a minute as everyone stood before him in silence; their postures had become more relaxed, their faces less suspicious as Allura had questioned him further.

 _That cant be right!_ Nico thought frantically, _sure China or Australia, but_ space _… How is that even possible via shadow travel, even with the Fates help?! Just exactly_ where _have they sent me?!_

"Prove it!" Nico said; his tone sounded almost as though he were challenging them, but a small amount of franticness still broke through despite his best efforts. "Prove to me that what you say is true!"

The paladins all looked at him with sympathy; even Keith, though some of his suspicion still lingered.

Shiro moved forward, untying his bounds from around his feet and the chair. However, the strange restraints around Nico's wrists snapped together once free of the chair, keeping his hands tied to one another.

"Follow me." Allura said solemnly.

Nico followed behind her, the rest of the group surrounding him on all sides as they made their way through the blue lit halls and through a large set of doors. Nico recognised this room as the place he had first encountered and fought them all, with the large, black windows and oddly large chairs dotted around the room.

Allura went and stood at the centre console, placing her hand on the strange device as she turned around. Suddenly the room was filled with tiny, glowing orbs which circled all around them; Nico saw that some of them had a strange writing beneath them, almost like a label.

"This is the Castleships current location." Allura explained, zooming in for a moment on what looked like a hologram of a spaceship. Nico stared at it for a moment before the strange 'map' zoomed out once more, and Allura made it race across what was probably hundreds of stars and planets, the tiny orbs turning into mere glowing lines.

Lance and Coran looked down, remembering the time just a few days ago when Coran had shown _Lance_ this exact same thing.

"And this…" Allura said, "Is Earths location." Finally, the map focused once more and the blurring lines stopped to reveal the Solar System Nico knew.

He stood there, shocked. The distance wasn't even measurable… It was so large that his brain nearly couldn't process it all. In a daze he mumbled, "What date is it?" A jump like that he was probably out for weeks at _least_ , even with the Fates interference, and maybe even months-

"Well when we left Earth the date was June 12th, 2115…" Lance said, holding his chin as he thought.

"Wait-" Nico said, snapping his head round to face Lance, "Did you say _2115_?" Lance nodded, confused. "That's not possible." Nico whispered, eyes wide.

They watched as Nico started to back away, his bound hands gripping the hair over his forehead, his shoulders hunched and body tensed as he began to hysterically mutter to himself, his head slightly shaking from side to side:

"Shadow travel can't take you into the future, its just not possible! I can't have skipped time again, I _can't!_ Not again! A hundred years is just not possible it's not real!" His head snapped up and his hands dropped from his head as he stared at nothing in front of him, "The others. Will they have noticed I'm gone? Would they have searched for me?" He gripped his head and looked down once more. "There wouldn't have been a body to find… nothing to burn… they would've thought I'd just disappeared and died without a single word and left them all behind… Reyna, Will… My life was just getting _better_ why did the fates do this?! _WHY?!"_ The final word ripped from Nico's throat, shadows erupting out from around him; as he had begun to panic the shadows in the room had quickly gathered around him, swirling around his form and nearly consuming him before they rushed outwards in an explosive force at his final cry.

When the paladins had seen the shadows moving in they rushed towards Nico, shouting at him, trying to get him to stop and calm down; but their cries had fallen on deaf ears. When the shadows erupted out from Nico they hit the paladins like a tsunami, slamming into them like a physical entity. As soon as it did, they collapsed, their limbs heavy and bodies limp, unconscious to the world.

Nico's breathing was erratic as he released his grip on his hair, panting for a few moments before his gaze snapped to Allura, limp on the floor next to him. He raced over, gripping the front of her dress with tied hands as he leaned over her, pulling her face closer to his own.

"Tell me how to go back! There must be a way so TELL ME!" He screamed at her, his throat raw and his panicked eyes wide and unblinking. But Allura's head simply lolled back, her own eyes wide and staring at nothing, her mouth hanging slightly open, her breathing faint.

As the silence endured Nico's eyes became a little more focused on what was in front of him; Allura's eyes were blank, her expression full of fear. Tears were beginning to gather at the corner of her eyes, and Nico's face dropped. His face became gaunt as he stared at her, realizing what he must have done. He released her from his grip in shock, her limp, upper body falling the short distance back to the floor with a heavy _thump_ , her eyes never blinking once.

Nico backed away from her, his head frantically turning only to see the rest of group were in the exact same condition, collapsed in heaps on the floor on which they had once stood only moments ago.

Nico's mind drew a blank in his panic, and he ran.

* * *

Shiro was the first to startle awake, a lion's roar faintly echoing in the back of his mind as he instantly sat up, gasping for air. He looked around him; the others were also beginning to stir, groaning and holding their heads as they slowly sat up from their skewed positions on the floor.

"Is everybody alright?" Shiro asked urgently, trying to stand to help the others up.

"I think so…" Keith replied, "But what _was_ that?"

"If I had to guess, it probably had something to do with those _creepy_ shadows that exploded from around him." Hunk said, his eyes finally beginning to focus again as he held his head.

"Did anyone else get those weird flashes?" Lance asked, staring at the floor in front of him. "They were like, pictures or… memories?"

"Yeah…" Keith said solemnly, his gaze lowering as well, "Of things we feared, things we've lost."

"No… Not just that…" Lance replied, his brow creasing in thought, "There were flashes of things I've never seen before. Weird things."

"Now that you mention it, there _were_ some things I've never seen before…" Pidge said, "They almost looked like - monsters or… giants?"

"I've never seen something like this…" Allura said, having wiped the tears from her eyes once she'd realised they were there. "Using shadows… incapacitating us all so quickly…"

"I have heard of creatures who can bend _light_ to their will, but shadows…" Coran said distractedly, searching the recesses of his mind for information. "Whatever this 'other half' is, they're certainly not from this galaxy."

"Whatever he is, we _must_ find him again. There are far more questions now than before which need answering." Shiro said, taking the lead, "He's far too unstable to let wander around the Castle, and we don't know how long we were out for. We need to find him fast."

"Right." They replied in unison, everyone now standing once more.

"Allura, Coran, can you find him with the ship's interface again?" Shiro asked.

"Yes," Allura replied, "and with the hand cuffs on he shouldn't have gotten too far."

The two Alteans moved over to the centre console as Pidge spoke:

"If his powers _do_ drain his energy, then he's bound to be even more exhausted than before. That should've slowed him down as well."

As they began the search Allura said with slight worry in her eyes:

"I… I think I remember seeing him after that wave hit us. I have a faint memory of someone shaking me, and I think they were shouting… it sounded like it was so far away though I couldn't tell what they were saying. It must have been Nico…"

After a few moments of silence, it was Hunk who spoke up: "Guys, I think we need to try peace. I remember seeing his face as he left before I lost consciousness and… he looked terrified. He's just a kid, like us. Even with those strange powers."

"We'll give him a chance," Keith said, arms crossed. "But if he hurts us again I don't see peace being an easy option. We still know nothing about him except his name and that he's only half human. And that the date of when we left Earth seemed to make him panic and do _this_. We need to know why."

Shiro's brow had creased in thought whilst the search had started, and he said, "Allura, check the Black Lions Bay."

"What?!" Everyone gasped, staring at Shiro.

"I think it was the Black Lion who woke me up…" Shiro explained, "I just have a feeling."

Allura quickly entered the commands in the console, and a camera feed of the Black Lions bay appeared before them. There, a small figure in black was edging his way around the Lion, who stared at him with glowing eyes.

Their eyes widened in horror as they all sucked in a breath before racing for the door and rushing towards the Black Lions Bay.

"Well, there goes the peaceful approach." Hunk sighed as he followed behind them.

* * *

Nico ran and ran, turning corners blindly as the fear and denial in his mind battled with his thoughts:

 _There's no point trying to go back. Even if you made the journey here, you don't have enough energy to return. The Fates were the ones that brought you here, and they clearly want you to stay. You couldn't make that jump on your own, so why are you even trying?_ The voice in his head asked; it was a mixture of realism and desperation, almost pleading him to stop at times. _You're in a different time now- how old are we now anyway? - you know that you can't go back in time, you can't return to them, so stop fighting the truth they showed you and start accepting it._

He stumbled through a doorway and saw a bench covered in tools against a nearby wall. He scrambled through them, trying spanners, wrenches, screwdrivers, anything that looked like he might be able to pry these hand restraints off with, but nothing was working. They had taken his sword whilst he'd been passed out and he hadn't the energy to summon it to him now, so these would have to do.

Nico froze. There was something behind him. Something big. And it was growling.

He grabbed the nearest tool and spun around, brandishing the spanner in his tied hands at the threat.

His conflicting thoughts ceased for a moment, his eyes widening at the sight before him; a ginormous, robotic cat stood just metres in front of him, and it stared at him with yellow, glowing eyes.

The Lion took one large, heavy step towards him, its metallic feet clanging against the floor, its head lowering; its footstep reverberated through the ground, and it made Nico's feet ever so slightly lift off of the floor beneath him. He tried to back away, but he just bumped into the bench behind him. The Lion drew closer, and Nico was trapped, the spanner in his hands still extended towards the robotic beast.

The beast stopped right in front of him, its head looking down on him from high above; then it roared in his face, its jaw opening wide and the loud sound reverberating around the room. The force of the wind that came with this roar ripped through Nico's hair and clothes, and he was forced to close his eyes and turn his head away, his face skewing slightly in order to stop his eyes from watering.

When the roar finally ended, Nico waited for a moment, and then tentatively looked back at the beast; why wasn't it attacking him? It just stood over him, staring.

Nico looked at the beast closer, muttering to himself: "Is this the 'lion' they were talking about? A robot?" He decided to try his luck and started slowly waving the spanner in front of the Lion. "Good kitty… Look at the spanner… Now… Fetch!" He threw the spanner as far as he could with his hands bound, but it just clattered uselessly across the floor as the Lion continued to stare at him. "Guess that only works on dogs then," Nico said, his face dropping, "Even the three headed kind…"

The two beings stared at one another in silence. The robot was clearly intelligent, but it held a strange energy about it, like some kind of life force…

After a while of silent staring, Nico decided to try his luck, and he began to edge around the lion towards the door, always facing it with his hands splayed in front of him in a placating manner.

It was at this time that the Paladins arrived at the doorway, yet they paused at the sight. Nico's back was towards them, and he was too focused on the lion to notice their entrance.

"I don't want to hurt you…" Nico said calmly, "I'm just looking for a way out of here… That's all."

The lion turned, following his movement. It then roared in his face once more; the paladins tried to rush forward in panic, not knowing what the black lion would do, but Shiro's extended arm and serious look stopped them from advancing any further. They watched in nervous confusion.

"Okay…" Nico said, turning his face back towards the lion. "Look, I know I- I hurt your friends up there, and I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt them! But how would _you_ like it if you woke up in a strange place with no idea how or why you got there and the only people that are around attack you and ask a million questions about things you know nothing about and have never even heard of before in your whole life!" Nico panted as he ranted to the lion, releasing all his pent-up thoughts; the threat of the lion had cleared his head long enough for him to see reason, and begin to discard his panicked thoughts. He then looked down and said resentfully, "I don't even know why I'm trying to get out of here… It's not like I have anything to go back to now anyway, not in this time."

The black lion suddenly sat down and lowered its head to be level with Nico's. He looked at it warily for a few moments; the air around it had changed slightly. Cautiously, Nico reached out a hand towards its 'snout', staring into its large, glowing eyes. Seeing that the lion made no move to attack him, Nico gently stroked the cold metal of the robot's snout.

"Huh," He said, smiling slightly in amazement as they lion dipped its head a little, "You're just like Mrs O'Leary and Cerberus; big and scary on the outside but a big softy within… Percy better have looked after her." He added with a scowl.

The paladins faces dropped at this, yet they couldn't help but feel slightly guilty about how they had attacked him after his rant; if he had been after or even heard about the Lions, he certainly wouldn't be acting around one like he was now.

"How are you doing that?!" Lance exclaimed.

Nico jumped and span around to face the group standing in the doorway, his shocked face quickly turning defensive and holding a light scowl to it as he said, "How long have you been there?"

"Long enough." Shiro said.

"Then why didn't you capture me again?! After what I did to you, you all just stood there?!" Nico said, unable to stop the confusion and disbelief from entering his tone.

Shiro calmly walked over to the lion, standing by Nico's side as he placed his hand on its muzzle; Nico turned slightly to face him also, watching in confusion as Shiro said:

"I am this Lion's Paladin, which means we have a strong bond connecting us to one another. She trusts you, and I believe that means we should too."

Pidge also walked over to them, pushing her glasses up as she said, "Sorry for attacking you like that. We have a lot of enemies, so we immediately saw you as one. We jumped to conclusions."

"We are all truly sorry that we did not believe you when you said you didn't know where you were, but we want to make things right. We want to understand your situation better, so then we might be able to help you return home." Allura said.

"We still want answers," Lance said, "Like how you got here and what all the shadow voodoos about, but…"

"We'll do it peacefully." Hunk said, a small smile on his face. He seemed very pleased. "We trust you, and you trust us. We'll answer each other's questions this time honestly."

"But we won't hesitate to lock you up if you threaten us again." Keith said, eyes narrowing slightly.

"So?" Coran asked, "Do we have a deal, shadow boy?"

They had all moved to stand in a loose semi-circle around Nico as they had each spoken; Nico stared at them all, thinking. Trust wouldn't just be formed over this one conversation; he knew they would still be suspicious of him, watching his every move, but so would he of them, until he learned more. This was the best way he'd get the answers he needed, and if the Fates had wanted him here bad enough to trap him in a different time, he may as well find out why.

"We have a deal." Nico said. He then held his hands out in front of him as he continued, "Though I'd appreciate it you took these restraints off my wrists."

They all hesitated, looking at one another unsurely.

"You said we should trust each other, right?" Nico was reminded of the time he had said something similar to Jason, but when they continued to hesitate, he sighed. He wasn't sure if it would still work in this time, but he tried anyway. "I swear on the River Styx that I will not harm you, nor try to take your lions."

The faintest echo of thunder rumbled around the ship, causing its inhabitants to look around in confusion.

"What was that?" Keith said, his eyes narrowing at Nico in suspicion.

"I've made an oath that I cannot break, or I will face dire consequences." Nico said grimly, "These oaths are not made lightly by my kind; I mean what I said."

They stared at one another for a few long minutes before Shiro stepped forward with a small smile on his face, "Thank you, Nico. We will trust you, as we promised." His wrists were then unbound, and Nico flexed his freed fingers gratefully.

"Why don't we go have some food?" Allura suggested, "It's been a long day so far, and it'll be a long night. There are some questions that need urgent answering."

"Alright!" Hunk said, "I'll go prepare something!" The group started to make their way towards the door, Lance saying:

"All this running around has worked me up an appetite! I could eat a horse!" He groaned.

"Is that some kind of strange Earth beast?" Coran questioned.

Their conversation of Lance explaining to Coran what a horse was faded away as Nico and Shiro stood by the Lion, watching them go. Shiro turned to Nico with a friendly smile on his face:

"I'm Shiro, in case you were wondering." He laughed as he extended his hand to Nico.

Nico knew he had a long way to go till he gained all their trust, and he could see in Shiro's eyes that he hadn't forgotten about the shadows earlier either. But he shook the paladin's hand anyway, saying:

"Nico. Nico di Angelo."

The two then left the hanger together, the lion watching them as they left, its face as emotionless as ever. As the automatic doors closed behind him, Nico looked back at the beast curiously; that lion had saved his bacon, and he couldn't help but wonder why.

* * *

 **A/N: Holy mother of cow... hope you guys are prepared for a long one cus I'm completely overwhelmed by your response! I honestly wasn't expecting this kind of response to my fic AT ALL, but I am so thankful to every single one of you who favourited, followed, and especially to those of you who reviewed. This isn't exactly an uncommon way for Nico crossover fics to start; Nico accidentally shadow travels to the crossover universe, gets captured, gets interrogated ect. But I do have big plans for this fic and I'm excited for where its gonna go.**

 **I AM NOT ABANDONING THIS FIC! So please stop worrying about that, cus I have no intention of doing so even if yes, it takes me a year to update (college left me with no life outside of art). This update would have come yesterday, but I came down with a 24hr stomach bug so was unable to finish writing this chapter. Apologies for it being slightly shorter, I did consider adding some of the next chapter in but as that's a heavy dialogue chapter as well I decided against it and went ahead with updating it now for you! I'm hoping to update this fic a few more times over summer before I leave for uni, but then we shall have to see what happens with updates. Just bear in mind I am not abandoning it, I will let you know if I ever do.**

 **Also, if anyone has any information on quintessence, both the good and bad variety, whether that be stuff you know or have theorized, or links to essays or posts people have made on it, then please let me know in either a message or review, cus that stuff will be vital to me in this fic.**

 **I made up the year after researching when we might be able to reach Pluto, and ik it may seem like Nico accepted it a little quickly, after seeing all this space stuff and everything that was said and has happened, I think I'd panic too.**

 **I would usually thank everyone by name and respond to reviews in this section, but seeing as I got 104 for this chapter, I'd be here for hours and you want this update now lmao. I may need to start replying via message now...**

 **Just know that I treasure every single one of your reviews and have reread all of them at least 6 times, and please keep reviewing because it does motivate me when I actually have the time to write. Though I must say, getting 5 plus reviews in a row which all say "I love it! Please update soon!" or something very similar, it can get a little draining... I WANT to update, but life happens, so it can get a little frustrating to get so many reviews with just that. Don't get me wrong I still love and appreciate your reviews still! But if you just tell me one small thing you enjoyed (or didnt), be it a character interaction, a description, plot point, future musings, whatever it is, it motivates me to write 100x more effectively than just asking for an update... Ik I shouldn't complain, but that is the effect it can have, though in hindsight that is likely a result of my slow updating...**

 **SO PLEASE RANT AT ME I WANT TO HEAR IT ALL.**

 **It makes me overjoyed you like my concept and to know others saw the similarities between Nico and Keith also, that will be something I explore further personality/circumstance wise in the future. To those of you who haven't watched Voltron before, I am amazed your reading this because I could never blindly read a crossover! I'm amazed and thank you!**

 _ **Silverspirit:**_ **Big shout out to you cus your my favourite kind of reviewer! Your theorizing and abundant questions actually made me think about things I hadn't considered in my fic, and as a result, you've made this story all the richer, so thank you! To answer one of your questions, I do not think there will be monsters; they have enough to deal with with Alien races after all, and I see them as just an Earth thing.**

 **Anyhoo, I am behind on voltron by like 4 seasons now... blame college again. So whilst I have seen some spoilers, try not to go too deep into that territory please. Thank you again SO MUCH for all your support, it really blows my mind. So as always, whether you like what you read or not,**

 _ **PLEASE REVIEW!**_

 **See you in the next one,  
-Limegreenarcher**


	3. Chapter 3: A Final Farewell

**Chapter 3: A Final Farewell**

* * *

Nico pushed the strange goo around his plate uncertainly with a slight look of distaste on his face as he sat at one head of the table in the elaborate dining room; he sat in the same seat he had been tied to not hours earlier, he noticed.

A tense silence filled the room, broken only by the sound of knives and forks clattering against plates, and the sound of Lance and Hunk wolfing down their mysterious goo. Allura sat at the opposite head of the table, Coran standing beside her, the paladins sat either side; Shiro, Allura and Pidge picked at the food on their plates, everyone taking glances at Nico as he continued to just study the 'food' before him. All except Keith, that is. His food sat untouched in front of him as he openly glared at Nico from his seat.

Nico's lips puckered as he stared at his goo, his brow furrowing in irritation and his grip around the fork tightening. He suddenly _slammed_ the end of the fork down onto the table, making everyone jump slightly in their seats:

"You could make the staring a little _less_ obvious." He said, before he sighed and continued a little defeatedly, "What do you want to know first?"

The paladins glanced at one another for a moment, before a cacophony of voices started asking questions all at once. Nico couldn't tell what any of the questions were, they were saying them so fast and so loud over one another, that he couldn't help but stare at them incredulously.

 _Were these_ really _the people responsible for my capture?_ He couldn't help but think to himself.

A loud series of coughs caused the paladins to cease their 'questioning' and they turned to its source:

"Maybe we should let the _Princess_ handle the questions for now?" Shiro said, his authority slipping into his tone as he lightly glared at the rest of the paladins, lowering his fist from just in front of his mouth. The paladins all looked down a little sheepishly at that, nodding and mumbling their affirmations as they slumped in their seats disappointedly.

"Thank you, Shiro," Allura said, nodding to him before she looked at Nico. "Nico." He returned her gaze, "Its very important you tell me how you got here without any of our sensors detecting you. This could be a major security risk."

Nico blinked before replying: "I didn't mean to come here, if that makes you feel any better. This wasn't my planned destination…" He muttered, glancing off to the side briefly. "But I came here via the shadows, that must be why your sensors didn't detect anything. It's not like I physically breached your ship; I just appeared right in the middle of it." He continued a little hesitantly then, squinting off to the side as if trying to remember something. "Oh and… When I arrived, I was in some kind of storage room… I remember the lights out in the corridor were blinking on and off, and there was someone screaming…? And someone else ran past with a pursuer attacking them… I think."

Keith's eyes widened with realisation: "That must have been me and Lance." When everyone looked at him quizzically he said, "When the Castle was malfunctioning after that Galra crystal was here, one of the training bots was attacking me and chased me through the whole ship. Nico must have arrived just before I found Lance being sucked out into space and heard him screaming for help."

"Hey, you'd be screaming too if you were about to be sucked out of an airlock!" Lance said indignantly, pointing a finger at Keith and crossing his arms.

"The cargo bays and the airlocks _are_ pretty close to each other," Pidge said, gesturing slightly.

Nico decided not to ask.

"And it makes perfect sense that the Castle didn't detect your arrival because of the after effects of the Galra crystal," Allura said with a smile, bringing the conversation back on track. "So, you really _can_ control shadows, Nico? And they allow you to travel great distances across many galaxies?"

"I wouldn't say across galaxies… Not on my own anyway." He muttered, "But seeing as I was on Earth in the year 2011 before I shadowed travelled… Yeah, I'd say it allows me to go pretty much anywhere I can think of." The paladin's eyes widened slightly; that was so long ago… its no wonder he had freaked out at Lances mention of the last date they had been on Earth.

"Fascinating." Allura said, her eyes wide and full of curiosity, "Do these powers drain you whilst using them at all?"

Pidge and Hunk both perked up at this; they may have already come to a conclusion themselves, but it was always worth asking for the solid truth instead of just theorizing.

"… Depending on how much I use them, yes…" Nico said begrudgingly, his arms crossed tightly over his chest.

"So how is it you have these powers?" Allura said, deciding to try her luck and leaning forward ever so slightly, "Does it have something to do with your heritage?"

Nico studied them in silence for a long time, the quiet tension in the room stretching on until he finally relaxed his arms a bit, looking down with a shallow exhale:

"I'll answer that after you answer some of _my_ questions."

His reply was met with a chorus of disappointed sighs and slumped shoulders; they had all been leaning forward with great anticipation, but it seemed Nico would continue to dodge _this_ question for a while longer.

"Of course," Allura's smile only faltered for a brief moment in her dismay, "That was our agreement, after all. What is it you would like to know?"

Nico nodded, taking a deep breath before staring unblinkingly at the people before him; he was finally going to get some answers. "Who are you people? And why is it you are all so defensive? You almost make it sound like you're at war with someone…" They all looked down at his final statement, and there was a pause before anyone said anything more:

"That is because we _are_ at war, Nico." Allura said, her eyes remaining downcast. Nico's brow furrowed slightly, but he quickly schooled his features back to neutrality; he didn't like it when he was right. Allura continued, "As I told you before, Coran and I are the last of our kind. That is because 10,000 years ago, an- alien- race called the Galra, led by their Emperor Zarkon," she nearly spat the word out from between gritted teeth, "destroyed our home planet and everyone on it. _We_ were frozen in cryogen pods, until the paladins here discovered us, not too long ago." She sighed as Coran squeezed her shoulder, looking at her with great sympathy.

Nico gave them some time before he asked his next question; he still needed to know more, but they had clearly been through much. They had skipped time much longer then he had, and he couldn't imagine how much more pain that would create; his was almost completely debilitating, it was so unbearable, but at least they had each other. That thought gave him a slightly bitter taste in his mouth, but he pushed it aside, bringing everyone's attention back to him:

"These Galra. Why were they attacking you?"

"They had already destroyed many planets," Coran explained, looking at him with a deep sadness in his eyes, "and Princess Allura's father, King Alfor, had created the ultimate weapon; the only thing that can defeat Zarkon and bring an end to his empire. Voltron."

" _Can'_?" Nico questioned incredulously, his brow furrowing, "You mean this Emperor Zarkon is still alive? And this weapon still exists too?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Allura said, eyes full of hatred, "He has lived far longer than he should have." She took a deep, calming breath before continuing, finally looking at Nico's eyes with a small smile. "My father sent Voltron away before our home was destroyed, but it was recently rediscovered. It is made up of five lions, who combine together to make Voltron. These lions are piloted by five paladins; Hunk, the yellow paladin; Pidge, the green paladin; Lance, the blue paladin; Keith, the red paladin; and Shiro, the black paladin and leader of Voltron." As Allura pointed to each paladin they each gave a nervous smile, a small wave, a confident salute or a reserved nod to Nico in greeting.

 _At least their conveniently colour coded…_ Nico thought, trying to remember their names as each person was pointed out to him. He tried piecing all the information he had so far together, asking uncertainly:

"So that… robot lion- downstairs, _that's_ part of Voltron?"

"Yes," Allura said with an encouraging smile, "But they are _more_ than just simple robots! They are unique beings, each with a connection to their paladins that cannot be explained by silence alone."

"Okay…"

 _Magic space robots then…_ Nico thought with slight despair, _Gods, if only Leo or Annabeth were here, I'm sure they'd be able to make sense of everything in no time… or at least understand more than I am right now._

"And you guys are humans from Earth, I take it?" He said, directing his question to the paladins on either side of the table.

"That's right!" Lance said quickly before Shiro could even open his mouth, leaning forward eagerly, "Speaking of which, what's your other half? Is it some creepy shadow demon thingy?"

Nico just sat there shocked as Shiro began to berate the excited teen, laughing internally to himself at the idea of Hades being a 'creepy shadow demon thingy'. _I'll have to tell them eventually…_ Nico thought, _This_ was _part of our agreement, and I don't have any way home right now… What harm could it do for them to know about the Gods? I'm galaxies away from Earth, and who knows what the Gods are up to these days, if their even still around… they'll only keep asking if I don't tell them._

Nico sighed, looking casually off to the side as everyone's attention was immediately brought back to the demigod, their arguing ceasing at the sound of his sigh as they all lent forward on the edge of their seats.

"You guys have heard of Greek Mythology and the Greek Gods, right?"

They simply blinked at him, expressions shocked and blank; all except Pidges, that is:

"You mean those old stories and legends? About heroes and gods and monsters? Their just forgotten myths now, nobody really talks about them much back on Earth."

"…Greek?" Allura asked in confusion, the word foreign on her tongue.

"It's a region back on Earth." Shiro explained to her, allowing Pidge to explain further:

"Back in ancient times, the people who lived there believed in specific Gods, holy beings of great power over the world they lived in; such as Zeus, the God of Thunder and King of Olympus, where all the gods lived. They also had stories about great heroes like Heracles, who was chosen by the Gods, and used his inhuman strength to complete many trials."

"Those ' _heroes_ ' were demigods, more often than not- half god, half mortal." Nico said, his eyes closed and arms still crossed. Of _course,_ Zeus was the one to be mentioned; it only served to remind him of Thalia and Jason, however. He quickly moved the conversation on before he could dwell on those thoughts any longer. "The Gods would come down from Olympus and, er…. Be _intimate_ , with a mortal who took their fancy, leaving behind a demigod who slew monsters and went on quests for them." Nico awkwardly looked to the side as he tried to explain this, a light blush colouring his cheeks; why was he having to explain where demigods come from, this was ridiculous!

"Erm…" Hunk said, breaking the unsure silence that had begun to gather, "What does this 'demigod' and 'Gods' stuff have to do with your heritage, exactly?"

"The Greek Gods, the 'stories' about them and those heroes- their all true. They existed, back on Earth, and the Gods _still_ do. Living and breathing, watching you mortals. Sometimes getting… intimate with them."

A dumbfounded silence followed him; it certainly hadn't been the answer they were expecting, and it wasn't even the answer to their questions. Lance was the first to speak:

"I… still don't get it. I mean, thanks for the bombshell and all but, you sound a _little_ crazy right now dude… We've dealt with aliens and flying robot cats sure, but this just seems-…? The Gods all actually existing and getting it on with _humans_? On _Earth_? As in _our_ Earth?! Where's your proof?" Lance wanted to believe Nico but- well, he just wasn't sure; surely, they'd have noticed demigods walking among them back on Earth, right?

Nico continued to wait silently, his fingers tapping his arms distractedly as the gears in their heads visibly turned. Pidges eyes widened suddenly:

"No way…" She whispered under her breath, but it was still heard by all in the silence of the room. Her head snapped towards Nico, who only raised a brow at her in question. "You said 'you mortals'. You're the proof, right?" She was still a little sceptical, but there was a flash of excited curiosity behind those glasses.

"Yeah," Nico nodded, his head tilted down and eyes closed once more, "I'm a demigod. _That's_ how I got my powers; its in my godly DNA."

Their mouths dropped and eyes widened, though Pidges was breaking into an excited grin. They sat speechless for what felt like hours before Lance stuttered:

"So… you're not half _alien_ …"

"Your half _god_ …" Shiro finished, not quite believing the words even as they left his lips.

"This is…" Allura started, shocked beyond words still.

"Amazing!" Pidge exclaimed, leaping from her chair to rush over to Nico, her inquisitive eyes suddenly examining him, as she asked him a million questions at once. "Your tech must be amazing after so many years of development and society!" He heard her say as she pulled on his jaw to examine his mouth, "You do have tech right?! -" Nico was trying to fend her off but found he couldn't go far before she reappeared and bombarded him with another question, and everyone else was still too shocked to stop her.

"You all don't seriously believe this guy's _bullshit_ , do you?!" Keith had been looking around at his teammates incredulously before his outburst; at which Pidge had stopped her questions and curious jibes, standing back slightly from Nico.

"Language, Keith." Shiro admonished.

"No, I'm sorry Shiro but I still can't trust this guy. He _honestly_ expects us to just take his word on some ancient _Gods_ existing back on Earth and he's _half_ of one?! I can't just believe what he says is true!" Keith gestured sharply at Nico without looking at him, and had stood up in his anger, leaning heavily on the table with one arm.

None of them could deny the power that radiated off of Nico, even just sitting there it felt incredibly intense, let alone when he actually used his powers. But still… Gods? On Earth? It felt like another big secret had just been dumped on them and Keith wasn't ready to just go ahead and accept this one like he had with the other recent bombshells. Nico was probably just some alien, not a _god_.

Nico stood from his chair also. The slow, steady movement drew everyone's eyes. His head was down, his dark hair hiding his eyes from their view. "Then don't believe me." He said. His voice was low and calm, but an aura of danger emanated from his form. It made the hair on the back of their necks stand on end and their muscles tense in anticipation. "I'm not going to make you." He looked up at them. His eyes almost appeared like black voids; there was nothing in them, no emotion but a blank stare that felt like it could suck your soul in if you stared too long. But then he shrugged and blinked, and when he opened his eyes again the aura was gone; he was just an ordinary, tired boy.

They watched silently as Nico turned around, his hands in his pockets, shaken by the odd display as he calmly left the room, the door hissing closed behind him. Their conversation had come to an end, apparently. Keith blinked his stupor away, punching the table beneath him with a frustrated growl as he glared at its pristine surface.

Nico walked calmly through the halls of the ship, his posture slouched as he let his feet take him wherever they wanted to go. He heard another door hiss shut behind him and he stood by the wall a moment, his head down.

 _BANG!_

Nico's nails dug deeper into his palm as he clenched the fist he had slammed into the wall next to him, ignoring the sharp pain it incited, his teeth gritting painfully and his tense shoulders hunched around his head, his breathing heavy.

"Another _damn_ war…" He seethed, the air practically hissing through his teeth. "I should have known…"

He looked up at his surroundings as he let his fist fall from the wall, his expression foul; the Black Lion sat in the centre of its hanger, unmoving. Nico doubted it would take much notice of his presence, now that its paladin had acknowledged him as an… well, as no longer a threat. Nico wondered over to it, sitting on the floor and leaning against one of its ginormous feet. He supposed he'd wandered here as other than the cargo room, training deck and bridge, this was the only other place on the ship he'd been too; and those other places didn't hold great memories of safety for Nico. That, and he found himself subconsciously drawn to the strange energy that emanated off of these robots; it was so much like a life force, but so unlike any soul he had felt before. The Princess certainly wasn't lying when she said Voltron was more than just robots.

The familiarity of a big beast behind his back comforted Nico as well, and he looked up at the ceiling as he thought aloud: "And the Fates didn't give me a way back…. Heh, they must want me here pretty bad… but why?" His bitterness and anger faded as he talked to himself, instead replaced with confusion and despair; one demigod in the endless expanse of space wasn't going to make _that_ much of a difference, not in a war on this kind of scale anyway. So why send only him?

The thought made him remember his friends back home, and this time he didn't stop the memories from surfacing. It felt like only yesterday he had been eating McDonalds on Earth, that he had seen Will and Percy… but they were gone now, in this time. They had aged and grown up without him, never knowing what had happened to him. They had faced monsters, had families, and… died. And Nico would never find out how, let alone get to be by their sides throughout it all.

Nico didn't see the air ripple and shimmer in front of him, so lost in thought as he was. He'd give anything just to let them know he was okay, that he hadn't gone and died on them without a word…

" _ **Nico!"**_

His head snapped back down, his eyes wide and jaw dropping at the sight before him; two iris messages hovered before him, their edges rippling but the images inside clear as day.

"Guys?" Nico muttered, unable to summon anything louder in his shock, "Is that really you?"

" _Of course its us!"_ Percy cried indignantly. He stood in his cabin at Camp Half-Blood, the rest of Nico's Greek friends bundled around him, trying to stay in frame. In the other Iris message, Hazel stood in the centre of the frame, the residents of Camp Jupiter around her; they appeared to be in the Garden of Bacchus.

" _We've been looking everywhere for you death breath!_ " Thalia cried, shoving her way to the front of the message and pointing accusedly at him, " _Do you know how much chaos you've caused in the Hunters because I've been looking for_ you _?!"_

" _Nico!"_ Hazel appeared close to tears, the relief of seeing her half-brother evident on her face, _"Are you hurt?! Where are you?!"_

Nico could only blink for a moment and think fondly, _It's them._ He smiled softly as he addressed his sister, "Hazel, I'm okay. I'm not in any danger." _I don't think…_

" _Oh thank goodness."_ She sighed, the built-up tension easing from her shoulders as she placed a hand over her chest. Nico smiled reassuringly at her. He couldn't believe he was seeing them, though they must still be back in the past, over a 100 years ago from where he was now… But he was glad to see them again.

* * *

The paladins sat around the table in silence, Keith still standing and glaring at the table as if it were his worst enemy, and Pidge still stood by Nico's now vacant chair.

"He… didn't even try to defend himself…" Pidge said quietly, blinking at the closed door.

It confused them all, as did the brief sensation of hostility they had felt; it was all a lot to process, and even Keith slumped back into his seat eventually. They sat in silence for a long time, and soon Shiro felt the Black Lions presence in his mind once more.

"He's in the Black Lions bay again…" Shiro sighed, his brow furrowed in slight despair. "I suppose he doesn't really know anywhere else to go in the castle."

"Mm..."

A few minutes passed before Shiro's eyes narrowed, his lion communicating once more.

"He's… talking to someone…?" Everyone looked over at him curiously. "The Black Lion says there are multiple voices talking to Nico in there…!" He looked at everyone with urgency and shock, and they all exchanged panic glances with one another. Surely, he couldn't be talking to any outside forces… he didn't know about the Empire or anything, he'd never left Earths galaxy before so who could he be speaking to unless…?

Fearing the worst, they rushed to the Black Lions bay, forgetting their conflicted thoughts at the more urgent, easier to understand threat before them.

* * *

" _We thought you might've shadow travelled to China again by mistake."_ Annabeth said.

" _We've searched all over the place!"_ Frank said, slight exasperation slipping into his tone, _"Hazel even went down to the Underworld to look for you…"_

" _It only worried us more when we found out your father hadn't heard from you."_ Piper said, her brows furrowed in concern.

 _I guess the Gods aren't allowed to tell anyone where they sent me then…_ Nico thought to himself.

" _Even Festus and Mrs O'Leary can't find you!"_ Leo piped in, his hands gesturing wildly, _"And I gave them your stinkiest socks to smell!"_

Nico could only raise his brow at that; could Festus even use scent to track someone…? Honestly, it wouldn't surprise him if Leo had built that in just for this occasion. He replied to them, saying, "No I'm… more remote than China this time…" He didn't want to put them in any more distress than they were already in over his location.

" _Nico."_ It was Will. His voice was stern and his arms crossed as he stared at Nico through the message.

Nico tried not to flush under his scrutiny: "Oh, er- h-hey Will."

" _You better not be overusing your powers again."_ He reprimanded, _"I only just cleared you for small amounts of exertion, and if I find out you've gone against your doctor's orders…_ "

Nico could only gulp and stutter as he tried to formulate a response that wouldn't just sound like an excuse to Will, but one which wouldn't cause them alarm either. He came up with nothing.

Fortunately, Reyna came to his rescue: _"Di Angelo."_ She said, drawing his attention to her calm, stoic features, _"It'd be poor form if you should overexert your powers again so soon, and it would reflect poorly on the legion if you were to collapse due to your own hubris. Make sure you listen to your doctor."_ She had a small smirk on her lips as she finished speaking, and Nico was grateful for her aid.

"Of course, Praetor." He said with a small smile and nod, "I wouldn't dare do otherwise."

' _The connection of this Iris message will soon end. You will be unable to reconnect it once it has been terminated.'_

A voice rang out from the shimmering air, everyone falling silent to listen to it.

Nico looked at them all determinedly, and spoke with urgency: "Look guys, I won't be able to contact you again for a long time, but I'll be alright."

" _Wait!"_ Jason said, moving forward as though he could reach through the message and stop him from leaving, _"At least tell us where you are!"_

But Nico ignored him. "I swear on the River Styx that I will find a way back home. I promise." His façade suddenly broke down, and tears welled in his eyes as he said, "I-I love you guys."

He pulled his hand up, preparing to slice through the messages; they all leaned towards him, a chorus of _**"NICO!"**_ crying out, a mix of anger, urgency, worry, confusion and fright evident on their faces and in their shouts; but they were all suddenly cut short.

' _Connection Terminated.'_

The cold, emotionless voice rang out in the sudden silence of the hanger, and Nico stared at the sudden emptiness before him, his hand still raised and ready; he hadn't even gotten to slice through the message himself before it had come to an end. He stiffly leant back, slumping against the lion and staring at his hands, his eyes seeing nothing.

"Excuse me…" A female voice said softly, "Young demigod…?"

Nico looked up sluggishly; a new message had appeared, and in this one stood a fairly muscular girl with frizzy white hair, and eyes that changed between white, grey and black.

"Your Nico Di Angelo, right?" She asked, glancing down to book in her hands; she seemed to be making sure she had the right person from a list.

"Yeah. That's me." Nico said, his eyes still no really focusing on her.

"Her Lady Iris is currently busy, but I have a message for you from the Gods." She seemed to be about to say the message before suddenly halting, and instead saying, "Wait… your Nico Di Angelo… As in _the_ Nico Di Angelo?" Nico hummed in confirmation. Her eyes widened and a grin broke out on her face as she excitedly said, "I've heard so much about you! You returned the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half Blood all the way from Rome! You nearly fell into Mount Vesuvius doing it! You're a huge hero, the other cloud nymphs told me all about it!" But her enthusiasm died down suddenly, "Oh, I suppose that's why your here though, isn't it?"

Nico stared at her blankly. She took a deep breath, her expression turning serious; "The Gods of Olympus wished me to tell you that they had no idea, nor prior warning of your transportation. The Fates alone made that decision and acted upon it, so there is nothing the Gods can do to return you… Your father seems particularly angry about this…" Her tone had become more casual as she had spoken, and sadness flickered in her changing eyes. "The Fates allowed him only one request; that your powers will work the same they did on Earth, so that you have a fighting chance. You will have no Mist to hide them though."

Well, Nico had already discovered that. He supposed he had his old man to thank for that…

She continued, "And because you are now in the future, I'm afraid this will be your final Iris message. Not even Iris herself can connect a message between you and anyone in this time… Though, we may be able to connect you with people in your current time… provided you have some drachma of course," She uttered, her hand on her chin in thought. "It's likely you will still receive demigod dreams so maybe…"

Nico forced a strained smile onto his face as he said, "Thank you, Fleecy."

The nymph looked at him, shock evident on her face as she pointed to herself, "You know my name?!"

Nico nodded, "Hazel told me about you." Sadness tinted his features again, unable to hold his smile any longer at the thought of his sister's desperate face as their connection had been terminated.

The message began to fade, and with urgency, Fleecy said, "I'm sorry young demigod, but the Gods _cannot_ help you in this quest! There hasn't even been a prophecy! Your father wished to bid you good luck…!"

With that, the message was gone. Nico found himself once again staring at the blank space before him, his eyes slightly wide. With Fleecy's disappearance, his last connection to his time- to his friends and family, his home- had disappeared also. He was truly alone, trapped in a future he never asked to be in.

The paladins watched him slump in despair once more from the doorway; when they had arrived, they had been confused by the messages, though had soon realised that Nico had just been speaking to his friends, and family. And that it was the last time he would be able to do so, according to the disembodied voice and strange girl. They didn't know how he was able to talk to them, over a hundred years into the past, but they did all feel huge sympathy for him.

They knew they shouldn't have listened, but they were both transfixed by the floating messages, and by their curiosity over Nico; in a way, witnessing these messages meant they couldn't doubt his story anymore.

Hunk nudged Keith in the ribs slightly, whispering, "You should go talk to him."

"Why _me_?" He replied.

"Because you were the one who didn't believe him." Lance whispered, arms crossed but hand gesturing lightly from he crook of his elbow, "Is strange, floaty face messages enough for you now?"

Keith sighed, and said resignedly, "I get it okay?" He walked over to Nico, his arms crossed in front of him as he looked off to the side awkwardly. "I… I'm sorry for not believing you, and for eavesdropping on your conversation."

Nico shrugged, his tired eyes staring at the floor in front of him as he said in a monotone voice, "Like I said, it didn't bother me either way."

He knew they had been listening to his Iris messages and to what was probably his last conversation with the only people he cared about in the world. But he couldn't bring himself to care. If they believed him, it just made things easier, but right now he just wanted them to leave him in peace…

Keith was a little indignant, however, "You're not even going to accept my apology? Or defend yourself?"

"I accept your apology…" Nico sighed. His head was slumped against his chest, and he closed his eyes as the rest of the paladins made their way over to him.

Shiro placed his hand on Keith's shoulder, smiling at him and taking over, "We all want to apologise for eavesdropping Nico, it was wrong of us to do so and even more so to not believe you when we made the promise we would trust you."

Nico simply hummed in response. Shiro continued, "Nico. We may not fully understand your heritage, but were on the same page now, and I think I speak for us all when I say we'd really appreciate your help now that you're here. We'll try to help you find a way home too, in return."

"Sure thing…" Nico mumbled sluggishly.

"You have our deepest thanks," Shiro said with a smile and nod. "We won't treat you any differently because of your powers or heritage, and you can confide in us whenever you want to; we've all lost something or someone, and we miss our homes, the people and things that are out of our reach. I know it's a lot to ask, but I want you to know that we understand how you feel right now, and we want to make up for our eavesdropping. I know it's hard, but I also know that together, we can defend the universe against the threat of the Galra. We are honoured to have you with us."

Everyone smiled at Shiro, his speech having motivated them and made them hopeful as to what Nico's reply would be; they were all eager to apologise and make up for the lack of trust and belief they had shown him over and over again, and how it took seeing such an immense and personal pain from him for them to realise their mistake.

But Nico's head simply lolled to the side, his mouth hanging open slightly and his breathing even; he had fallen asleep.

Shiro's face and shoulders dropped, disheartened that his speech had gone unheard; everyone else tried not to laugh at this outcome, or stood shocked at the sleeping boy in front of them. Keith patted Shiro on the shoulder, trying to reassure him as he looked at Nico uncertainly:

"I'm sure it wasn't the speech." Shiro didn't look convinced.

"It's late," Allura said, a smile on her lips, "and its been a very long day. We should all go get some sleep."

"I don't know if I can sleep…" Hunk said, his forehead wrinkled, "I mean, Gods _exist_ back at home on Earth, and he's the living proof! Who knows what he can really do."

"We'll have a meeting first thing tomorrow, maybe put him through the training sessions if he's up to it. And we need to look through Sendak's memories; no more distractions." Shiro said, recovering from his shock over Nico's sleeping state. His statements were followed by a series of confirmations and agreements.

"Well, I'm going to sleep like a _log_ when my head hits that pillow." Lance stated, stretching his arms languidly above his head.

"More like your head _is_ a log." Keith murmured.

"What was that, mullet head?" Lance said, snapping to attention and leaning towards him.

Shiro, however, put a hand on both their shoulders, putting himself between them, "That's enough you two. We're all exhausted, its time to get some rest."

"What about Nico?" Pidge said, gesturing down at his limp, sleeping form. "We can't just leave him on the floor in here."

"Sure we can!" Coran said, "Sleeping rough is good for the reflexes!" he tried demonstrating as much, but Allura just walked forward, moving to pick Nico up.

"I'll take him to one of the spare rooms." She said, easily picking up the small boy.

"Are you sure Princess? I can take him if you want, you should go get some rest." Shiro said, concerned over her tired eyes but not realising his looked even more so.

"I'll be fine Shiro," She said with a small laugh, "You've all worked hard today, and you need to get some rest as soon as possible. It won't take me long, I know just the room available."

He relented, and they all left the bay together, each going off to their rooms for a long-deserved rest. Allura set Nico down on the bed in the spare room, along the same corridor the paladins all shared. She put her hand on his shoulder, smiling down at him softly, whispering, "Welcome to the Castle of Lions, Nico." She left his room, Nico's face being the most relaxed and at peace she had seen it since his arrival on her ship.

* * *

Haggar stood alone on the Bridge of Zarkons ship, her eyes closed as she focused on the dark quintessence crackling around her. Her yellow eyes opened slowly, and she stared out into the darkness of space through the glass before her. Something different had arrived in the universe… something she had never felt before. And she wanted to find out exactly what.

* * *

 **A/N: Yo! It's late and I'm tired, so my apologies for any spelling mistakes, but I really wanted to get this out before Christmas (tis still Christmas Eve here). So Merry Christmas everyone! And this chapter is my gift to you. And if you don't celebrate Christmas I hope you're having a wonderful day and enjoy this new chapter! I slammed this one out super fast today, so it may not be the best, I hope the emotions and characterisation are all still there so please let me know.  
** **Was anyone worried by the title of this chapter? Be honest now ;) And no, I'm still not caught up but yes I basically know what happens and how much of a shitshow the final season was for many of you, so if you really want to you may talk to me about spoilers all you wish my dears.**

 **Anyway, thank you so much, everyone, for your continued support, it really is appreciated (I even updated this fic over my other neglected ones, aren't you glad lol) and it really is because of your reviews and the conversations I get to have with people. It makes me happy beyond belief that you guys love my writing style, I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint.  
And for you poor souls who think Nico will go back to his time near the moment he left... oh I am not so merciful. Everything has a consequence. I have the ending pretty much worked out, and I'm pretty happy with it, so I hope you will all be too! A lot of your questions should have been answered in this chapter too! Though, no more word from the Fates as to Nico's purpose... we are as lost as him on that one ;) I'd love to hear what you guys think the reason for sending him to Voltron is!**

 **Anyway, have a merry christmas and a happy new year everyone, and I hope you enjoyed my gift to you (I left a little extra at the end to give you more to think about till the next chapter ;) good ol Haggar up to her witchy tricks again. And yes I am slightly delirious from being tired, uni has really caught up with me since coming home for christmas...). Thank you so much for your support, and my apologies for any spell errors again... Hope your all prepared for the long haul cus this fic is gonna far outlive the end of the series lol with my update schedule... Anyway, whether you liked what you read or not...**

 _ **PLEASE REVIEW!**_

 **See you in the next one!**

 **-Limegreenarcher**


End file.
